Shelling in populated areas intensified as Russia struggled to invade Ukraine

Russia has stepped up shelling of areas outside the main front as its invasion of Ukraine fails.

According to Governor Oleksandr Starukh, Moscow troops fired 166 times a day into the Zaporizhia region, with 113 of the attacks targeting populated areas, killing one civilian.

The aim is to overload Ukraine’s defenses and prevent it from trying to recapture areas before the Kremlin launches another major offensive in the spring, analysts believe.

Meanwhile, Russia claims to have made progress on the front lines in the Donbass region, which it partially controls.

But Ukrainian troops trapped in trenches described ill-equipped recruits dying “over the top” in scenes reminiscent of World War I. “You took nothing with you. All their attempts were repulsed and the enemy suffered losses,” said military spokesman Yevhen Yerin.

The invaders also fired 115 rockets into the northeastern Sumy region, destroying homes and public buildings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expects his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to make a big move in the face of the imminent invasion.

Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled abroad to avoid being drafted into the army and sent to the ‘meat grinder’ at the front.

And one man told the BBC he avoided a phone call by living in a tent in a forest for nearly four months. The 30-year-old IT specialist said life was tough, but going abroad would have been “a difficult step out of my comfort zone”.

.